America is Going Founder Mode & Can Robinhood’s Platinum Card Take Down Amex?

0:29Neal Freyman:We'll see you next time.

0:31Kyle Stock:Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neil Freiman. And I'm Kyle Haggy. Today, more Americans are starting their own companies.

0:38Neal Freyman:And Robinhood drops a new platinum credit card, but can it compete with Amex? Today is Friday, March 6th. Let's ride.

0:50Kyle Stock:Good morning and happy Friday. Kyle Haggy is here subbing in for Toby, who is at another wedding. There's been some speculation in the comments that wedding is code word for something else. Yeah, we got to investigate. But I can assure you he's just in that phase of his life. We've all been there. Pray for his bank account. But very glad to have Kyle with us, the host of Per My Last Email. And hold up. I'm hearing some breaking news here. It's Kyle's birthday today. Why in the heck did you agree to host a 6 a.m. podcast on your birthday?

1:23Neal Freyman:Look, I love being on the podcast. I love that we're twinning on my birthday and we're wearing the same exact shirt. So there's no place I'd rather be. Do you have any plans? So I've turned my birthday into Minnesota Day. So I'm doing all the Minnesota stuff because I'm from the state. I love the state. So I got some Minnesota wines, grapes developed by the University of Minnesota. Going to listen to some Bob Dylan and some Prince. I'm making Tater Tot Hot Dish. And I'm going to watch Mighty Ducks tonight. They're from Minnesota, Mighty Ducks?

1:50Kyle Stock:The team is set in the Twin Cities. I mean, I am a big Minnesota fan. My parents lived there for a few years. So hopefully I can participate in at least some of that. Minnesota Day is for everyone. All right. Now a word from our sponsor, Bland AI. Kyle, you'll never guess who I just talked to. Santa? No, it's March. Why would I? Never mind. I was talking to Soulja Boy. What? Yes. Thanks to Bland AI. Soulja Boy became the first rapper to automate his voice with AI. Bland AI then licensed his voice so people can actually call and talk to an AI version of him. If you want to try it, this is real.

2:23Kyle Stock:You can call him at 415-480-0000.

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2:43Kyle Stock:They're able to drive serious ROI across industries and their 127 % net revenue retention rate means people keep buying more of Bland for their business.

2:52Neal Freyman:To learn more, head to bland.ai.mbd. That's bland.ai.mbd. The monthly jobs report drops this morning, but a subset of Americans likely won't have time to check it out. Why? Because they're going founder mode. That's right. New business applications are soaring, with 500 ,000 plus submitted in January, which is up 36.8 % year over year. The number of applications has nearly matched the pandemic high of just shy of 550 ,000 back in July 2020. Now, back in 2020, widespread layoffs and furloughs pushed some people into entrepreneurship, while others found the pandemic as a catalyst to stop working for the man and start their own thing.

3:35Neal Freyman:So, what's causing the rise in entrepreneurship in 2026? The leading suspect is, you guessed it, AI. Whether real or perceived, AI is increasing the uncertainty in the job market and society as a whole. And when people feel uncertain, they look for more control. Starting your own business is one way to potentially gain that control. And AI is allowing people to remove the bottlenecks of starting their own business, giving them access to coding and design capabilities they might not naturally possess. Another data point for you, a LinkedIn study found a 69 % increase in the number of people listing themselves as founders.

4:11Neal Freyman:and 47 % said that AI made them more likely to start their own business. Neil, the one downside to more founders is more entrepreneurship thought leadership on LinkedIn. And I'm not sure we're ready for that as a nation.

4:23Kyle Stock:We aren't, but LinkedIn is where you live. So you must love that. Americans are already inclined to be entrepreneurs. Gallup reports that 62 % of Americans would rather be their own boss because they have schedule, flexibility, the opportunity for higher earnings and autonomy. And once people go founder mode, they don't go back. Historically, surveys have shown that 97 % of self-employed people don't want to return to traditional work. And Pew Research also found significantly higher levels of job satisfaction among the self-employed. I'm not telling everyone to go start a job right now because it's kind of cutthroat.

4:59Kyle Stock:I started early here at Morning Brew, and you have to work a lot. One thing that's interesting, though, is this is not necessarily a good sign for the job market or the economy because the last time we saw new business formation surge was in the peak of the pandemic when people were getting laid off and said, well, screw this thing. I'm going to go start my own company. But it's very interesting to see how AI dynamics are at play and causing people to try and start their own thing.

5:23Neal Freyman:That's right. It seems like every week we're seeing, every month we're seeing a headline similar to Jack Dorsey's block cutting 40 percent of the workforce, citing AI as the reason. Whether that's real or not as being the reason, it's definitely creating this uncertainty. And I think you go back to COVID, you go back to the Great Recession. Most people, when there's economic turbulence, they try to start their own thing to make ends meet. You look at even 2008, 2009, some of the startups we know today, that's exactly when they were founded. The Venmos of the world, the WhatsApps of the world, the Ubers of the world.

5:54Neal Freyman:So there's a saying that necessity is the mother of innovation or invention. And I think we're seeing that here. When you need to make something happen, you do. Your point about business being hard, though, it is hard. And it's not as easy as going to ChatGPT and being like, build me a business, make it very profitable and fun, make no mistakes. It is a grind. And so not everyone is going to survive through entrepreneurship.

6:16Kyle Stock:Starting a business now versus starting a business in the aftermath of the Great Recession couldn't be any more different. I know you were making a joke about plugging start me a business into ChatGPT. But there's a whole world of resources now with you pay$20 a month for a ChatGPT subscription or any AI chatbot. And you are getting a whole load of information and easiness that you wouldn't necessarily have, honestly, three years ago. So it's lowering the barriers for entrepreneurship in perhaps a revolutionary way. You can just ask ChatGPT, write me a business plan, and perhaps lowers costs all across the board.

6:51Kyle Stock:So that's really enabling a new wave of entrepreneurship. At the same time, it's creating a lot more competition, possibly, because everyone can do that, and you're competing with a lot more people. But, you know, it certainly is a new way of starting a business if you do it AI first.

7:06Neal Freyman:That's right. Yeah. We've seen this trend of democratization of X. And now it seems like we have the democratization of entrepreneurship because of these AI tools. So, Neil, me and you might have to start our own business or something.

7:16Kyle Stock:I'd love to. Maybe, you know, Minnesota Inc. So you mentioned that the jobs report is coming out this morning. Here's what to expect. economists project that U.S. employers added 60 ,000 jobs last month, which is meager growth. It is growth that would be down from January's estimated 130 ,000 jobs added. The unemployment rate is expected to stay level at 4.3 percent. We have seen a couple of good reports already come out about the job market this week. ADP, which reports on private sector hiring, showed larger than expected numbers. Layoff announcements are actually down from January besides whatever Jack Dorsey said there was a 55 % drop-off in layoff announcements from February to January.

7:59Kyle Stock:It could be a little wonky. So when you see these numbers come across at 8.30 a.m. Eastern, there's going to be a little things you have to pay attention to because 31 ,000 healthcare workers were on strike. Remember, there's a lot of snow and bad weather that could have disrupted hiring. So it will come with certain asterisks. So we are expecting another month of small job growth. Moving on, Robinhood has entered the premium credit card wars. This week, the fintech company unveiled a platinum credit card that costs$695 a year and a direct challenge to American Express and JPMorgan Chase, which have long dominated the market.

8:31Kyle Stock:The card, of course, comes with serious perks, including 5 % cash back on dining, a$250 annual DoorDash credit, 10 % cash back on hotels and rental cars, and a$250 credit for autonomous vehicle rides. The company says the full suite of reward and benefits comes out to$3 ,000, but no word yet on Robinhood lounges at airports. Robinhood's come a long way from its start as a no-fee trading platform that was the villain of COVID's meme stock mania. In the past few years, it's tried to move past those roots and become a banking super app where users can control their entire financial life. And it's been paying close attention to who those users are and what they want because they're all grown up now.

9:09Kyle Stock:Millennials who were just studying out their careers when Robinhood first launched are now having kids, buying homes and cars, and in general have more money than they used to. The release of a premium credit card is one way for Robinhood to keep those folks around instead of ditching for legacy players in the financial space. Kyle, do you think Robinhood has built up the credibility to win people over with this card?

9:27Neal Freyman:It'll be interesting. First, I have to address the lounges in the airport. A Robinhood lounge in the airport would just be a casino. Absolutely. We have to look into that. It's really interesting. You mentioned how Robinhood started as this low-fee, no-fee trading platform. And, you know, it's in the name Robinhood, kind of like steal from the rich, give to the poor. It was a disruptor. Now it feels like we've come full circle and it's steal from the rich give to the more rich like the platinum and elite kind of credit card world seems like a hard one to disrupt. If you have a brand like Robin Hood, which to me is a little more disruptive young.

10:01Neal Freyman:I'm not sure it has the same cachet if you're like out with friends is dropping an Amex platinum card down. I think the big thing for Robin Hood is the reputation they've already built up. And this is one of many pivots they've tried to widen that base and maybe improve their reputation. You mentioned they have a maturing user base. They're getting older. They want more services. So the real question will be, will they stay with Robinhood for those? Are they going to move to more legacy players? The perks of this, you should definitely read the fine print. I think they're rolling out many perks to compete with the Amexes and the Chases.

10:35Neal Freyman:But like the DoorDash credit, for example,$250 credit. The credit is structured as up to two$10 discounts per month, requiring a$50 minimum. So definitely read the fine print on what you're getting from these cards. Personally, I would have liked to see Robinhood lean into a little more of the meme stock and do more future-friendly perks. So 20 % off AMC tickets, one free GameStop game a month, a free ChatGPT subscription. Be a little more disruptive. I think they want to move past that, Kyle. Instead of copying and pasting what Amex and Chase seem to already own.

11:10Kyle Stock:Well, they are doing this$250 credit for autonomous vehicle rides, which is maybe forward-looking and not necessarily tying into the PR crisis that they had a few years ago with AMC and GameStop. But there's no denying that Robinhood's on a really, really big hot streak right now. The stock is up 80 % over the past year. Revenue was up 52 % in 2025. They've successfully moved beyond this trading platform to offer a wider suite of financial services. and the Trump administration is actually considering them for Trump accounts. So if that happens, then they're going to get a bunch of new users. They're going to be babies, but they're going to be a bunch of new users.

11:47Kyle Stock:And it ties into this entire family vibe that Robinhood is getting with these older millennials having kids now. At the same event that they release this credit card, they also announced custodial accounts for minors. So this is a big push by Robinhood to move beyond their roots and maybe enter the big leagues with American Express and J.B. Morgan Chase, but also with Charles Schwab, who's really their big rival in the space.

12:08Neal Freyman:Yeah, it's important to understand, too, the market for these premium credit cards is very limited. It's less than 15 % of credit card holders pay an annual fee above$250. So these fees are extreme for the average American. But as you've laid out, they are trying to offer so many more things to keep that aging user base with Robinhood.

12:27Kyle Stock:It's a lucrative user base, maybe small, but they'll give you a lot of money. All right, let's head to Stock of the Week, Dog of the Week, This segment where we pick one stock that was burger-mogging and another that took a small nibble. My stock of the week is the Ukrainian drone-killing industry, because they found themselves the bell of the ball amid the war in the Middle East. The Financial Times reported that the Pentagon and at least one Gulf government are in discussions to buy Ukrainian drone interceptors to counter Iranian shot-head drones that are causing havoc across the region. Ukrainian drone killers are far cheaper than the traditional interceptor missiles the U.S.

12:59Kyle Stock:and its allies have been using against Iran in the past week, Not to mention, supplies are allegedly running low. An Iranian suicide drone costs about$30 ,000, while the missiles used to take them down, like those deployed in Patriot battery systems, cost millions. Reports suggest that the U.S. is spending over$1 billion a day in its war against Iran, costs that will add up the longer this goes on. Enter Ukraine. Since Russia invaded in 2022, attacking with tens of thousands of Shahid drones, Ukraine has learned a thing or two. The country's entrepreneurs have revolutionized air defense warfare by developing drone interceptors on a budget, some cost as little as$1 ,000.

13:35Kyle Stock:As demand has grown, a booming startup industry has formed around anti-drone technology with a dozen companies producing various kinds of interceptors. Bottom line, Kyle, drones aren't the future of warfare. They're already arrived on the scene.

13:47Neal Freyman:That's exactly right. And these drones are crazy fast, so they can reach speeds up to 155 miles per hour. And basically, you just see this like, the interceptor gets faster, the drone gets faster, the interceptor gets faster, the drone gets faster. So there's a race to the top speed, which is really the name of the game. There's this famous quote that is generals are always fighting the last war. And like you build your defense system around the war that you fought in the past. What we're seeing now is you're right. Ukraine is the future of warfare. It's here. And so we're seeing, you know, the United States, other, you know, traditionally strong militaries have these advanced missile systems.

14:24Neal Freyman:The Patriot missiles, for example, cost upwards of millions of dollars to deploy. You're not going to deploy those against a drone that costs$10 ,000. There's this economic arbitrage that happens, and it goes to the team or the country that can produce the cheapest drones to destroy the incoming missiles. And so we're seeing a whole new model of warfare. It is very interesting how the tables have turned. Ukraine was asking for the United States to help them in their war. Now we're asking President Zelensky to help us with information and the development of these drones around the war, the developing war in Iran.

15:00Neal Freyman:So it's a really interesting time in the economics of warfare.

15:05Kyle Stock:Yeah, the startup scene in Ukraine around anti-drone technology is absolutely thriving. Here's just a few of these companies and what they're making. There is an anti-drone interceptor called Merops, which is a fixed wing drone. It's made by companies. They're actually founded by the former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt. He's been very active, an investor in this particular space. Then you have like the quadcopters. That one is called Sting. That's made by Ukrainian company Wild Hornets. And another very fast growing startup is called General Cherry. They make a interceptor drone called the Bullet.

15:37Kyle Stock:And what is most interesting to me is that the United States has actually taken these shot head drones that have been flown at them in Ukraine and in Iran, took it back to Arizona and had a couple of startups working on basically reverse engineering this particular drone because for whatever reason, it is so effective. It's not that fast. It flies, you know, 115 miles per hour. That's pretty slow by warfare drone standards, but they reverse engineered it and they actually used it in Iran over the past week. It's called Lucas. It is a low-cost unmanned combat attack system. It is$35 ,000 a pop, much, much less expensive than the Patriot battery systems,$4 or$5 million.

16:16Kyle Stock:So we are learning a thing or two from this drone warfare that's been pioneered by Russia and Ukraine. And Zelensky did come out yesterday. I said it was a report by the Financial Times that the United States was asking, but Zelensky confirmed it. He said, we received a request from the United States for specific support and protection against shotheads in the Middle East region. He's also said earlier this week, any such cooperation aimed at protecting our partners can only proceed without diminishing our own defense capabilities.

16:40Neal Freyman:And one trend we're seeing here that I think is only going to continue, and it goes back to the Anthropic DOD dispute around automation is these drones are not fully autonomous. A lot of times there are human in the loop or it's someone literally controlling the drone themselves. Everyone is saying the future of these are autonomous. And so we're going to have to make a clear line of what we're comfortable with being fully autonomous in warfare.

17:04Kyle Stock:I'll talk to Hegseth. Okay, up next, why your plane ticket might be getting more expensive.